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In my four years of college basketball, one particular weekend stood out to me more than any other. My teammates and I traveled down to Cookson Hills, OK, in the school’s two vans and loaded our luggage into the house where we would be staying. When we got there, however, we realized that the family we would be staying with had been stricken with the flu. We had no choice but to stay there, as other families already had teams they were housing.
Have several male volunteers come up and have them each select a beautician from the audience. Give the beautician beauty supplies: shaving cream, and other items if you wish (sprinkles, chocolate syrup, etc.). Have the beautician put the shaving cream in their partner’s hair and try to beautify him as much as possible. Have the crowd applaud to determine the best job and the winner.
Each person is given a farm animal, making sure that another person in the group has the same animal. The students close their eyes and make the sound of that particular animal. The object is for the students to find the other person with the same animal by listening for the same sound. Once the students have found each other, they should find out about one another and report back to the group.
Rigo Lopez sounded tired, but satisfied. It was a crisp November evening in Palo Alto, Calif., and Lopez, an upbeat Bay Area FCA area representative, had just concluded two long days of camps. Coordinating a four-hour baseball clinic at Santa Clara University that featured major leaguers, minor leaguers and college players as instructors would have been plenty of work by itself. But the next day, Lopez and the local FCA saff hosted a similar four-hour softball camp 30 minutes away at Stanford University.
During a 2004 game against the Cubs, Alex Cora of the Dodgers fouled fourteen straight pitches before hitting a home run. That took determination, concentration, and an unwillingness to give up. Cora battled through tough pitch after pitch until he got one he could handle. Life is full of situations where it is easier to give up than battle until we get a pitch we can handle. How many marriages have been abandoned because one spouse wanted an easier life? How many athletes have been overlooked while new athletes were given time and attention? All too often, Christians have grown weary and given into sin, thinking, This temptation is too hard; I’ll get right with God later.
This year, my son Caleb is playing freshman football at his school, and as he’s discovered, being one of 70 players is tough. He loves the game and enjoys certain drills in practice, but lately his teammates have been the bigger challenge for him. Two of the guys he considered to be his best friends have been verbally mocking him and putting him down. As a teenager, he expects that from some of the guys on the team but not his closest friends. All he wants to do is be his best and help his team in any way he can.
If you have been on a team, chances are you’ve heard the phrases “Be a leader,” and “This team needs leadership!” Statements like those constantly remind us as players to work hard, demonstrate integrity, and display a model of intensity for other players.
My older brother Steve whooped on me on a regular basis. He was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, and better than me in everything! We would play football, baseball, or a form of these from sun-up to sunset in the summer; and during the school year, from the final bell of class until the sun was long gone. Steve always beat me until he saw I was about to quit, then he would let me win so he could keep playing.
I fantasized of what it would be like to have Steve’s skills and size, but knew it was a waste of time. Fantasy got me nowhere. Steve was so good that I never really beat him for years. I gave it all I could but to no avail. But I kept coming back . . . kept working.
What should we do when our friends repeatedly make the same sinful mistakes? Some would say, “I cannot change them.” Others would say, “That’s just who they are,” and even, “They will never listen to me.” However, if these friends are followers of Christ, we need to hold them to the commitments they made in Christ. They need to hold us to the same standard as well. We all need accountability. When someone feels he/she does not need it, that is the beginning of great trials ahead.
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